The EPA's Clean Power Plan: A Clear Threat to Electric Reliability

February 17, 2015

Today, the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a group of power generators serving tens of millions of customers across the United States, released a report establishing a clear consensus regarding on potential adverse impacts on electric reliability from the EPA effort to regulate carbon emissions from existing, modified/reconstructed, and new power plants. The U.S. Congress in the Clean Air Act long recognized that EPA should proceed with caution in regulating the power sector precisely for the reason that 'getting it wrong' could have profound consequences for our economy and our way of life. Only now has the federal government began a process in earnest to examine the real impacts of the proposed rules on reliability and cost. Advocates for EPA action are quick to point to scientific consensus when describing climate change. Let's hope consensus means as much to them when it describes threats to electric reliability.